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Chapter VIII: Enhancing Employment and Workforce Training
QER Recommendations
The challenges facing workforce training for jobs associated with TS&D infrastructure mirror the
broader issues facing the energy sector as a whole. For this reason, current Administration activities
and the QER recommendations described below have the potential to broadly benefit the entire energy
sector beyond their benefits to workers associated with TS&D infrastructure. In order to build on the
ongoing Administration-wide activities, we recommend the following:
Support an energy-job skills training system: As part of the interagency Skills Working Group
with the Departments of Energy, Labor, and Education, the Administration should support actions
for a national job-driven skills training system in the United States by providing new energy
and advanced manufacturing curricula; designing new and enhanced apprenticeship programs;
establishing industry-based credentialing standards for new technologies; and implementing
innovative online learning systems, such as the National Training and Education Resource Webbased
learning platform.
Expand support for an open-source learning community: DOE should develop, facilitate, and
expand use of state-of-the art courses in energy-related fields through a competition to solicit
proposals from organizations that would maintain and continuously improve the National Training
and Education Resource. The National Training and Education Resource platform can help colleges
lacking sophisticated resources to build and deliver courses using state-of-the-art methods. It can
provide a full set of tools, including course authoring, a three-dimensional world builder, a traditional
learning and content management system, and support for multiple content types—including images,
text, and multimedia—all within a course.
Coordinate efforts to accelerate the development of high-quality energy education programs: DOE
should coordinate efforts to accelerate the development of energy and manufacturing curricula and
apprenticeship programs with existing Department of Labor or National Science Foundation programs
to (1) develop and deliver courses in energy and advanced manufacturing topics; and (2) provide
technical support in the form of simulations, visualization tools, cognitive tutoring, and other resources
in energy and manufacturing.
Facilitate national credentials for energy occupations: DOE should support and, as necessary,
facilitate an industry-led process of defining needed skills in a number of emerging occupations. This
would build on DOE’s experience in the building retrofit space. These needed skills can be translated
into specific certifications, including “stacked credentials” modeled after competency-based education.
Facilitate the transition of military veterans into the energy sector: DOE, in conjunction with
the Department of Labor and the Department of Defense, should work with industry and other
stakeholders to standardize the applicability of Military Occupation Codes to civilian jobs in energy
sectors.
Reform energy employment data collection systems: DOE should establish an interagency working
group—to include the Departments of Labor and Commerce—to reform existing data collection
systems to provide consistent and complete definitions and quantification of energy jobs across all
sectors of the economy. Because employment data is collected by the State Employment Security
Agencies, the success of this initiative will necessarily require their engagement, as well as identifying
and mitigating barriers to implementation.
8-10 QER Report: Energy Transmission, Storage, and Distribution Infrastructure | April 2015